The NFL capped off its season finale on the largest sports stage in the United States with the Super Bowl. Millions of football fans watched as the Baltimore Ravens defeated the San Francisco 49 ‘ers. But for football fans on the Island, NFL flag football still has a long way to go.

Halfway through the Anna Maria Island Community Center’s Flag Football season it is still anyone’s game on the road to the Super Bowl. There are four competitive co-ed divisions: Adult, 14-17-year-old, 11-13-year-old and 8-10-year-old.

At the end of the regular season schedule, there are divisional champions, but every team will make the playoffs and have a chance to be crowned Super Bowl champs. Seeding for the playoffs is based upon the final regular season team records.

All four age groups still have undefeated teams. In the Adult division, the 5-0 Florida Discount Signs Colts will square off this week against the 4-0 Island Sun Bills. In the 14-17-year-old division, the 4-0 West Coast Surf Shop Buccaneers will try to keep their perfect record intact when they face three divisional foes this upcoming week.

In the 11-13-year-old division, the 4-0 Ross Built Construction Dolphins look to remain flawless with their high scoring offense lighting up the scoreboard. In the 8-10-year-old division, the 5-0 LPAC Cardinals are rolling past opponents, but have four other teams in their age group right on their tails.

Playoffs begin in March and the excitement mounts. The big game maybe over, but Island football fans can still enjoy plenty of gridiron action. The Center has games every night of the week and usually all day on Saturday. You may not be able to be an armchair quarterback watching the game on the flat screen, but there is nothing like the roar of the crowd at a live football game.

Adult co-ed Volleyball schedule

Reader’s Digest goes vegan

Feasting on Fitness By ellen Jaffe Jones

In case you think it is too difficult to go vegan, it really isn’t. Just this week, I woke up to a ton of posts on my social media pages telling me about an article I was featured in called "11 Convincing Reasons That Eating Vegan Isn’t Crazy."

The article appeared in the online version of Reader’s Digest, which says it has four million online viewers. Not to mention that it is the second largest paid subscription magazine in the U.S. Reason four in the article, on Page 4 is "Eating Vegan is Cheap," and it had a huge picture of my book.

I didn’t even know that this was happening. You don’t get more mainstream than Reader’s Digest. Though I’m told that there are no plans for this article to make next month's print edition, unless it goes even more viral than it already has. If you’ve already shared, thank you! You can read about the other great reasons to go vegan here:

That a mainstream publication would even print such an article is beyond imagination. The source of the story was the force behind a great vegan movie called “Vegucated.” It’s about three people who turn their lives and health around eating vegan. These stories are so common now, the VegNews has started a column called Veganism Saved My Life. Yes, results are typical. When is the medical establishment going to shake off the powerful influence of drug companies and smell the cilantro?

I know this article was also great for so many who have been told by well-meaning family members or friends that they are crazy. I don’t know… it always seemed that as I watched my sisters have a chest cracked open for heart surgery, or watched them lose limbs and eyes to diabetes or be up close to the ravages of chemo, changing your diet seemed to be so much easier and rational.

You can follow Island resident Ellen Jaffe Jones on her Facebook page and keep up with her just released book:,"Eat Vegan on $4 a Day," or her website: www.vegcoach.com. She is also a nationally certified personal trainer and running coach. For training in a gym or private hire, contact Ellen at ejones@vegcoach.com or 941-704-1025.